Rotary adsorption apparatuses are found in residential, commercial, and industrial environments. Specifically, rotary adsorption apparatuses may be used in industrial processes, product drying, material storage, comfort conditioning, air/gas treatment, and solvent recovery. Generally, a rotary adsorption apparatus removes moisture or a solvent from a moisture-laden air or gas stream by exposing this stream to an adsorption media such as a desiccant. (For simplicity of reference, the phrase "moisture-laden air or gas" will be used to represent both moisture- and solvent-laden air or gas streams when describing the manner in which a rotary adsorption apparatus operates. It should be noted that although the term adsorption is used herein, the adsorption medium could also be described as a medium for adsorbing excess moisture.)
One type of adsorption system includes a cylindrical adsorption medium-filled bed in which a thickness of the medium is covered on each side with circular perforated sheet metal disks to permit controlled air or gas passage through the bed. One or more dividers, comprised of a flexible material, radially separates the bed into sections. Dividers serve the purpose of separating the moisture-laden stream from the drier higher temperature air or gas stream. The adsorption medium in the cylindrical bed continuously rotates, exposing different portions of the bed to the process air or gas stream and to the drier air stream.
One section of the bed is utilized for drying a moisture-laden air or gas stream. This section of the bed is referred to as Section A in FIG. 1. The moisture adsorbs to the adsorbent bed. The air or gas stream then exits the adsorption apparatus drier than when it first entered Section A of the apparatus.
The other section of the adsorption bed, referred to as Section B in FIG. 1, has the moisture removed from the pores of the adsorption medium by a stream of heated air or steam. Once the moisture is removed from Section B, this section is then regenerated and is ready to repeat the adsorption process.
In addition to the divider that separates the moisture-laden stream from the dry air stream within the adsorption bed, an elongated flexible seal is secured to the perimeter flange on both ends of the housing for the rotary adsorption apparatus. This seal further separates the two streams from one another. Connected to the housing is the perimeter flange. The perimeter flange surrounds the face of the adsorbent container.
The entire adsorption bed is rotated around a permanent adsorption bearing by a rotor (viz., the rotating part of the motor that includes a shaft and a rotary driver). This, in turn, rotates a drive belt that has treads that interconnect with a drive wheel that is connected to the housing. Alternatively, a timing belt may be used that has cogs on both the belt and on the exterior of the rotating adsorption bed. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,484 issued to Robert N. Schmidt. Mounting angles may be used to secure parts to the rotary adsorption apparatus. For example, mounting angles may be used to fix the heat source assembly in place. Covers to these mounting angles may use polytetrafluoroethylene or Teflon.RTM. tape. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,052 issued to Bruce J. Chagnot on Aug. 24, 1993.
Conventional rotary adsorption apparatuses are disassembled by first supporting the rotor to allow unfastening of the bolts that secure a flange plate along with a shaft extension to the face of the wheel. See FIG. 1. A pillow-block bearing is typically used to support this assembly. If the operator is unable to remove the housing for the adsorption medium, the screws or rivets used to secure the seal to the perimeter flange must be removed.
A problem with the conventional seals used in adsorption apparatuses is that a typical system uses fasteners such as screws or rivets to secure the seal to a perimeter flange. Using fasteners hinders servicing of the adsorption apparatus. Tools are needed to remove the fasteners to allow the operator to take off the seal and perform maintenance on the adsorption apparatus. Additionally, typical seal designs are known to damage the relatively fragile face of rotary absorbers. Moreover, the shaft of the rotor is supported by a pillow-block type bearing making subsequent disassembly more difficult.